Broken Clockwork
by Deranged and Morbid
Summary: Naruto wanted to scream. He wanted to sob and rage and froth at the mouth like a wild being. Staring at the unmistakable silver hair, the mismatched eyes and the lazy, nonchalant posture, it took everything he had to not throw himself down at the man's feet and beg for forgiveness. He had lost, after all. He had lost and because of him, all he cherished were dead. Warnings inside.
1. Wordless Shatter

_By_

**_Deranged and Morbid_**

Say is in "…"

Flashbacks are _'in apostrophes and italicized'_.

Thoughts are _italicized_.

**DEMON** **TALKING**.

**Warnings and disclaimers will only be posted once until further notice: **

**- This is an AU that somewhat sticks to canon. I am aware who Tobi really is.**

**- This will be eventual slash. It will start out as a friendly relationship and nothing more before they become a couple.  
**

**- This is a timetravel fic.**

**壊れて時計仕掛けの**

**Broken Clockwork**

**[Prologue]**

His heart battered against his ribs relentlessly as he dropped to his knees, the earthy smell of soil quickly overriding his senses with the dreadful scent of copper. Scarlet dyed his palms as he took hold of a limp, bloodless hand, the man's face contorting into a rictus of agony at the grisly image before him.

"_Oh my God,_" he moaned, grasping at a pair of limp, bone-white shoulders.

"Please no - _please_." _Not Sakura. Not Sakura. She's all I have left._

He couldn't breathe – could barely speak, for that matter – as he stared at the glossy green eyes of his teammate. The pink-haired woman didn't so much as twitch at his words and it was then that despair claimed him, it's grip suffocatingly tight.

His fingers, he noted blankly, were slick with her coagulating blood.

_He would pay,_ the Jounin vowed with fearsome snarl; a beast-like rage washing through his veins as crimson slithered across his visage. _Madara was a dead-man walking. _

Rising to his feet shakily, the Jinchruuki wiped his trembling hands on his vest before vanishing in a faint gust of wind.

* * *

It wasn't terribly difficult to locate the masked-man despite his initial thoughts, the Kyuubi Vessel mused; Killer Intent rolling off the enraged blond in waves.

The red chakra of the Kyuubi coated him like liquid fire, decimating all in its path as he Body Flickered in front of the lackadaisical madman. "Madara," he intoned coolly, watching the other's movements warily.

The Uchiha arched a fine brow in return, Sharingan-red eyes spinning as he raised his head to look at the other male. "Uzumaki Naruto," he murmured.

"This will be the end," Naruto said softly. "You, who should have been dead long ago, will die here."

A bitter smile curled the man's – for he could be nothing but in this time of war - lips.

"Your Moon Eye plan," he continued, advancing forth, "is worthless if the majority of the Shinobi are dead."

The Eternal Mangekyo eyes narrowed as Madara remained painfully still, his features twisting into a horrendous smirk at the blond's words.

The Jinchruuki smiled at the last Uchiha, pure and utter hatred reflecting from dark, cerulean depths.

As he readied himself for the last time - _there's no way the both of us would be walking away from this _- the wind around them started to howl, announcing its fury as sky-blue eyes met ugly red.

"Fūton: Rasenshruiken!" Naruto roared.

"Zukokku: Katōn! Searing Migraine!"

The Kinjutsu and S-classed Fire Technique clashed in a savage display of power, a terrible screech filling the air as bone-melting flames erupted from in between.

Naruto Uzumaki's world faded to a foreboding black.

* * *

**DeMo: ***Polite criticism is welcomed - reviews even more so. I'll even accept flames for my own amusement, haha! Also, please point out any mistakes kindly. Aside from this, I'd also like to apologize to all the people that have me on your watch-list. School and the troublesome Real Life Attacks syndrome (along with writer's block) had really bogged me down, causing me to quit all my stories. I know nothing can make up the disappointment that I've made you experience but please know that I am sorry.

Updates will come whenever possible. I won't pick a set date as I don't want to let anyone down this time.

**Techniques:**

Futon: Rasenshruiken: The Rasenshuriken creates countless microscopic wind-blades that damage the body on a cellular level, the wind blades severing nerve channels in the body. It leaves the target unable to move after being struck as they also attack the chakra circulatory system, which cannot be repaired by any form of medical ninjutsu. Depending on the severity of the damage, the victim may not be able to perform a technique ever again. Because the Rasenshuriken does cellular damage to Naruto's arm when he first uses the technique without throwing it, Tsunade labelled it a kinjutsu and likens the technique's effects to poison. (Credit to Narutowiki.) Futon: Rasenshruiken is a Wind Release Jutsu.

Zukokku - Fire Release: Searing Migraine: With a high concentration of chakra and the appropriate hand seals are performed, the user is able to spit out a small stream of fire that can then change to a massive wave of flames. The flames will gradually expand and effectively burn more targets with the more space provided. The distance that the jutsu is released also plays a role as it grows in size and power the longer it takes to reach a target. A skilled Shinobi is able to use this technique at close range bringing it to wide flame with just the distance between them and their opponent. Since the flames are wide in range it is extremely difficult to evade and combining this technique with Futon can amplify the range of the jutsu tenfold. Can be overpowered by powerful Futon jutsus. Zukokku - Fire Release: Searing Migraine is a Fire Release Jutsu. (Credit to omgforums/newagerp)

**NOT BETA'D. I don't own Naruto. My apologies for the constant replacing of this chapter. I kept spotting mistakes.**


	2. He's Trouble, I can tell

_By_

_**Deranged and Morbid**_

Say is in "…"

Flashbacks are _'in apostrophes and italicized'_.

Thoughts are _italicized_.

**DEMON** **TALKING**.

**壊れて時計仕掛けの**

**Broken Clockwork**

"_Even Hell runs on money. I'd be just fine." – __**Kakuzu**_

**-x-**

**[B**_u_**r**_n_**e**_d__**, P**__a__**r**__t __**O**__n__**e **_**]**

His mouth felt as dry as Suna's desert and he was willing to bet that if he closed his eyes and ignored the dull ache that the action brought, he would be able to feel grains of sand crunching as his teeth clicked and clattered together.

However, that was the least thing he had on his mind as he stared blanklyat the snarling streaks of red on the ANBU mask. _Cobra._

His fingers – torn as they were (it was only then that Naruto noted the lack of gloves and the clean state he was in) – clenched around the sheets of the hospitable bed, turning white from pressure.

"Where am I?" _Because Konoha was razed to the ground and he had no one left, not even Sasuke, the traitorous scum that wasn't fit to lick the soles of his boots._

The ANBU paused, as if surprised before replying in a stiff, monotone voice. "Konoha."

Naruto's face shuttered before his lips opened and the blood drained from his face – _and then he screamed._

E

The words are a deadly poison roaring through his veins.

_KonohaKonohaKonoha –_

_It beat steadily, rapidly; working itself into a fury._

**FLASHBACK**

' "_Hokage-sama," the title felt decidedly heavy and alien on his tongue and Naruto rolled the fleshy muscle around in his mouth a few times before continuing. _

_Straightening up, the Jinchr__ū__ki pinned brilliant blue eyes on the wizened old man – and stared long and hard._

"_What year is it?"_

_(And for a brief moment, he wondered if he was merely imagining the moans and cries in the throes of agony that sounded in the background. He dearly hoped so; the noises reminded him far too much of what he had sought to escape.)_

_The Hokage – _and he still wasn't over how young Old Man Sarutobi looked (and how burdened, too) – _thinned his lips, the pipe curling the corners of his lips awkwardly as smoke wafted from the circular opening._

"_**7XX, the eleventh of October."**_

_The blood froze in his veins like newly formed ice that was left over from the chilly clutches of winter, scarlet liquid rushing from his face in a blank, shell-shocked form of surprise._

'_October eleventh, 7XX.' One day after the Ky__ū__bi no Yo__ū__k__ō__'s attack._

_One day after he was born._

_Suddenly he felt faint._

"_K-Kyūbi."_

_The blond-haired ninja hadn't realized that he had uttered the foul beast's title until Sarutobi's head snapped up with an alarming crack, gaze as sharp as the end of a well-kept kunai and eyes as hard as stone._

"_What do you know?" He demanded, face darkening._

_He loomed over the hospitalized man, pipe dangling between his calloused digits. "I am no fool despite what others may think. I may not interact with all of my shinobi but I know every single one's face__**. And you are not one of them.**__"_

"_Speak quickly," the Sandaime barked, "I have no patience for this tom-foolery!"_

_Pallid lips curled down into a bitter mockery of a smile from beneath the crusty, bloodied face mask – _one that was eerily similar to a certain Hatake, _the_ _Hokage_ _thought_ _in_ _alarm_.

'_I forget myself,' Naruto mused. 'This is no longer the Konoha I knew and grew to love. This is no longer the Village I cherish.'_

It was then and there that he decided to lie.

"_I came in hopes of visiting my younger brother, Minato Namikaze." The Professor stiffened in disbelief and quickly glared down at the frightfully still blond only to pause at the hand that politely signaled for him to take a seat._

" _O-otouto and I ..", because he suddenly realized he was a few years older than his father now, "we never were all that close."_

_His eyes slipped closed and he summoned a pained expression that wasn't that hard to bring._

"_I figured I would sneak in and briefly visit him and his wife, Kushina-san." Grief seeped into his words._

'_He had forgotten his mother.'_

"_I came from Wave – and wore this attire to avoid being attacked or mistaken for my brother – in time to congratulate otouto on his family."_

_The glare softened somewhat before immediately hardening._

"_We will conduct blood tests," Sarutobi stated curtly. "Very well, Hokage-sama." Naruto smiled demurely at the Old Man, mouth curving into an upward tilt. "That is acceptable. I understand that it may take time though, considering … the state of this village."_

_Another pause, this one hesitant._

"_M-my.. otouto," it was a tentative hope, an unlikely one but he would rather ask then find out another way, "Did he survive?"_

_There was a long, heavy beat of grim silence._

"_No."_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

"What is your name?"

Naruto flinched, barely able to reign in the reflexive flick of the wrist.

The Jinchrūki curled his empty fingers into his palm, blinking slowly at the gruff, monotone voice that the ANBU used before blanching.

He recognized the mask; the snarling streaks of red depicted a rather fearsome dog against the eerie white porcelain.

Something stirred beneath the confines of his heart, forcibly repressed before it decided to rise like a torrent of raging waves.

_Shame, _a voice keened.

_Guilt._

_Loss._

_Despair._

"Takeshi Namikaze." '_Uzumaki Naruto, actually. _

_I'm your sensei's son and your student – __**yes, yes that **__**is**__** me in the baby crib**__. _

_Surprise, Kakashi-sensei!'_

The blond tilted his head up defiantly. "But I'm Takeshi Kazama now. I need little trouble right now."

_He had another chance with his jounin-sensei and he could prove his worth without the heavy cloud of a Jinchrūki 's prejudice and fear hanging over his head._

_Maybe then he and Sensei would get to know each other better. Maybe they'd even become good friends._

And then he had to actually up and open his mouth.

"Kakashi-san, correct?" The Dog ANBU growled, KI plowing into him like a particularly nasty punch from Rock Lee and Maito Gai from all sides.

"Otouto talked of you often," he hurried to explain (_even if they were all lies)_. "You, Obito and Rin. He'd speak of you in his letters at times."

_Shit. He was walking on thin ice now._

A strangled sound emitted from the pale mask. " .. O-otouto?"

"Hai," the blond replied quietly.

**LINE BREAK HERE**

A sad, wistful smile spread beneath the ebony cloth mask that resembled his own; spikes of blond hair ghosting at the edge of the man's jaw like butterfly wings, cerulean eyes – _just like Minato-sensei, _the Hatake thought numbly – wide and hopeful.

_Hopeful for what?_

He blinked at the older man, managing a reply after a few, hesitant moments. "I was unaware Minato-sensei had an elder brother."

"He didn't talk of me much. We parted on poor terms." The blond-haired ninja sounded pained, the bright blue darkening with anguish.

A silver brow arched from beneath the porcelain mask. "Why?"

Another smile, this one half-bitter. "I wished for him to remain a civilian. Maybe then .." '_he wouldn't have died'_ hung in the air, unsaid. Neither acknowledged the other's reaction.

"Is there anything you require me to do? Perhaps I can help?" The blond cocked his head to the side, the lengthy ponytail brushing against the foreign shinobi's chest.

Kakashi frowned. "You'd need an army to help," he mutters.

" … Er."

The Hatake stared. "What?"

"I can help."

It took the ANBU a minute to process the jumble of words and when he did, he blanched. "There's no way," he protested in a forcefully blank voice.

_ANBU code 34: Do not show your opponent your thoughts or feelings._

The sound of a thousand Kage Bunshin poofing into existence filled the village, surprised shouts filling the air as they set to work.

Takeshi grinned. "Oops?"

Inu deadpanned.

_Oops, he says. _

_Oops for making a thousand Kage Bunshin._

_Oops for doing the impossible._

_Oops for making more than what any man should be humanly capable of._

Inu buried his face in his hands, stifling a sigh. "I can already tell you're going to be a handful," he muttered darkly.

**Gods, I'm so sorry for my absence. I had lots of real life issues and only recently had my laptop returned to me. Here's the second chapter- it's been sitting here for so long and it's not even seven pages. –bows- I will try to continue the story but I must apologize once more! Please review. It'd please me to hear that people still follow it.**


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